Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters Monday that he will wear a heart monitor for the next two weeks after he briefly left Sunday’s game in Denver with an irregular heartbeat.
Harbaugh will also take a blood thinner during that time after meeting with a cardiologist on Monday. He said doctors did not recommend a procedure for now and added that he will follow their orders as he continues to coach.
“I’m pretty confident on this one that I know what it is and how to deal with it,” Harbaugh said. “But as always, we’ll address the doctors and they’ll tell me what to do.”
Harbaugh missed the early minutes of Sunday’s game after experiencing atrial flutter, which is a type of arrhythmia that can cause the heart to beat up to 350 times per minute.
The first-year coach entered the Chargers’ medical tent shortly before kickoff and then went to the locker room to be treated by paramedics. He returned in the first quarter and coached the rest of Los Angeles’ 23-16 win.
Harbaugh, 60, said he experienced a similar heart issue while coaching a 2012 game for the San Francisco 49ers. That same year, he underwent an ablation, a procedure that uses heat or cold energy to eliminate tissue that causes the irregular heartbeat. He previously had an ablation in 1999, ESPN reported.
Denver’s high altitude reduces oxygen levels in the blood and puts more strain on the heart, but Harbaugh said he began feeling off even before the Chargers left for Denver.
Harbaugh said he could undergo a heart procedure in the future, but for now, he has no plans to step away from the team.
“It would take my heart stopping for me not to be out there on the sideline,” he said.
Los Angeles (3-2) visits the Arizona Cardinals (2-4) in Week 7 on “Monday Night Football.”
–Field Level Media
